


day 1/june 24: friendship

by quantumducky



Series: sympathetic deceit week 2018 [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Miscommunication, Pre-Episode: Accepting Anxiety, anyway it kinda gets fixed by canon so, i was gonna fix this angst but then i didn't oops, in my defense it's four in the morning, sympathetic deceit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 07:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15044285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumducky/pseuds/quantumducky
Summary: Another take on the theory/headcanon of 1. Deceit and Virgil having actually been friends at some point, and 2. Virgil having decided to "duck out" because Deceit made him think he should. Only, not quite how you'd think.





	day 1/june 24: friendship

**Author's Note:**

> listen i know this is late okay but listen. listen. im doing my best out here and i wrote most of this in the middle of the night

Anxiety returned from the real world with his face set in a scowl, storming into his room and slamming the door hard enough to make anyone who heard it wince.  On this occasion and most such others, the only one to hear it was Deceit, whose own room wasn’t too far away. He sighed and gave Anxiety a few minutes to cool off before popping in to talk to him.

“I take it your day went unusually well?”

“Fuck off, Deceit.”  Anxiety was curled up on his version of Thomas’s couch, facing the wall and clearly sulking.

“Come on, tell me what happened.”  He had a guess, based on Thomas’s memories of the day, but he wouldn’t get anywhere unless Anxiety at least actually talked to him.  “I  _ can _ stand here as long as I need to, you know…”  That would have been true, if not for the fact that his responsibilities would eventually require him to be elsewhere.  Deceit was highly resistant to the room’s panic-inducing effects thanks to his well-developed, almost subconscious ability to tell himself everything was  _ completely fine. _  It was one reason the two of them spent as much time together as they did- not an overwhelming amount, really, but more than either of them interacted one-on-one with anyone  _ else. _

Point being, even if Deceit couldn’t really stand there  _ all _ day, he could certainly stick around long enough to be really, really annoying.  Anxiety groaned, resigned, and flipped over to face him. It was another few seconds of silent glaring before he actually said anything.

“It’s stupid.”

Deceit rolled his eyes.  “Right, and I’ve  _ never _ listened to you rant about anything trivial before.”

“No, yeah, you’re right,” Anxiety said bitterly, making Deceit blink in surprise.  This was not the return banter he’d expected. “Everything that bothers me is stupid anyway, dunno why I suddenly care  _ now. _  Oh wait, yes I do, it’s because it makes Thomas and everyone hate me and I’m not even doing any good and honestly I should just  _ stop.” _

Okay, Deceit had been expecting yet another rant about how stupid and/or irritating the main sides were.  Not…  _ that. _  He wasn’t prepared to  _ deal _ with that, but it seemed he was going to have to- Anxiety was still technically one of the sides he needed to keep... stable, after all, even if it had been a long time since he’d actually hidden him.  He struggled to come up with a tactful response, but didn’t have enough time to actually think of something before Anxiety kept going, having decided he wasn’t getting a reply to that and having also decided he didn’t really care.

“It’s just- they still think I’m a  _ villain, _ y’know?  Like, I thought we were past that bullshit- or, I dunno, I guess I thought they at least knew I was  _ trying. _  But then there was that stupid cartoon thing, and… turns out I’m still the bad guy to them.  I’m not even mad at  _ them _ at this point, I’m the idiot for thinking anything was different, and- and maybe they’re right.”

“Wait,  _ hold _ on…” The attempt to interrupt went ignored.

“I hurt Thomas more than I help him, and he doesn’t want me there, and nobody else does, except maybe Patton for some reason but that’s him, and they don’t listen to me unless I yell and then they hate me even  _ more, _ and I’m just- I’m tired of it!  I’m  _ done!” _  Anxiety glared up from the couch as if daring him to argue.

“You can’t be  _ done,” _ Deceit said slowly, latching onto the one thing that didn’t require any… emotional unpacking.  “You’re a part of Thomas’s personality, you don’t really have a choice.” Well, he did, but it wasn’t necessary to remind him of-

“Can too.  I’m ducking out.  Nobody will have to  _ deal with me _ anymore.”  He folded his arms tightly over his chest and turned back towards the wall.  “Hell, they probably won’t even notice or care.”

“That isn’t true,” Deceit argued before he could think about what he was saying, too surprised to stick to his usual habit of twisting his words.  Anxiety jumped and looked at him in shock, and he remembered to slip some technical untruths into his next few statements. “No one hates you.” There were almost certainly  _ some _ people out there who did, so it counted as a lie and still sounded nice and reassuring.  “I’m  _ sure _ the others recognize how important you are.  You can’t just  _ leave, _ Thomas would be dead in  _ seconds.” _  He felt rather proud of himself for actually coming up with something halfway decent to say.

...Until he saw Anxiety’s reaction, at least.  He flinched back as if he’d been hit, and hurt turned to anger in his eyes.  “So I’m worthless and nobody likes me. Good to  _ fucking know.” _

“That isn’t what I meant at all!” Deceit blurted out.  “I mean- I  _ did _ mean  _ all _ of it!”  Of all the times to be mistakenly honest.  Even  _ he _ wasn’t sure what he was saying anymore.

“Oh, save it for someone a little more gullible,” Anxiety snapped.  “I wasn’t stupid enough to think we were really friends, but I did kinda think you didn’t actively hate me, you know?  Get the fuck out of my room.”

“Anxiety--”

_ “Out.” _

The look in his eyes was frightening.  Deceit went. From the safety of his own room, he heard a few distant crashes, and then… silence.

**Author's Note:**

> im on tumblr @do-your-socks-have-holes-in-them
> 
> i stayed up really late to finish this before it's actually legitimately the next morning so everyone is legally obligated to tell me i did good okay


End file.
